Vending-machine



G. W. MILLER.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLH) JAN. 9.!

INVENTOR Wewrye wiflw ATTORNEYS 6. W. MILLER.

VENDING MACHINE.

H'Y'LMAHUN mu) JAN. 9. 1919.

LSWJM 9 Patented. May 39211.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR @zmzye W Mflillfl? ATTORNEY MILLER, 01 SEGEQL'ENTU, GALUUEIM V'El YDHIG-MACEHUE.

application filed January 9, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonen MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vending-hiachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a vending machine.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a machinefo'r vending small articles such-as matches, chewing gum and the like, which machine will be decidedly simple in its construction and will operate in a manner to insure against choking of the supply hopper or the breaking down of any feed mechanism, thus making the device desirable from commercial and practical viewpoints. The present invention is particularly concerned with a feed hopper into which articles of rectangular shape may be disposed in a manner to be alternately withdrawn from the hopper by manual operati'on, as permitted by the release of a gate, which gate is preferably actuated by a coin control mechanism.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in vertical section and elevation, illustrating the feed bin as (llS- posed above the operating base and further disclosing the design of the control gates.

Fig. 2 is a View in section and elevatlon, as seen on the transverse center line of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a view in plan, as seen on the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1, illustrating the internal formation of the feed bin and the manner in which the articles to be vended are locked therein.

Fig. 4: is a view in section, as seen on the line H of Fig. 1, illustrating the sectional formation of the feed bi'n.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a base, here shown as rectangular in shape and formed by suitable vertical side walls connected at their upper edges by a platform 11. The

platform is horizontal and provides a support for a feed bin 12, within which the articles to be vended, are placed- In some 1nstances, it may be found convenient to form the feed bin and the base as an integral structure. As shown in the drawing, however, these members are separable. The bin Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial Ito. 27%,382.

is provided with a pair of downwardly extending legs 13 which extend through slots 14;: in platform 11. These legs are formed with outwardly projecting lugs 15 which are engaged by flanges 16 carried by achange drawer l'l'. This drawer fits within the base, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and 1s fitted with a locking lug extendmg through an opening in the front side of the base and which lug may be engaged by a padlock or look pin. The'said drawer with its flanges, thus cooperates with the lugs 15 to hold the bin and base together and these members are furthermore locked against separation by the lock which engages the lug l8. 7

Reference being bad to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the feed bin is substantially square in section, the corners being cut away as a matter of design. The interior faces of the feed bin walls are formed with vertical grooves 19, 20. 21 and 22. The grooves 19 and 21 are exactly opposite each other and will receive the opposite ends of articles to be vended, as indicated by the letter A. The grooves 20 and 22 are disposed op osite each other to receive the ends of articles 1 These articles are alternately stacked cries-cross fashion within the bin and as the length of the article is greater than the width of the article, they will be locked in position, as shown in Fig. 4:

t the bottom of the bin in the walls forming grooves 21 and 22, are cut away to form outlet openings 23 and 24c. These openings are of substantially the height of one of the articles to be vendcd and thus will permit the article to be drawn end-wise through the opening. It will be evident, however, that a single article could only be drawn through the opening end-wise, as indicated by the article B in Fig. 3. In order to lock the bin so that this lowermost article cannot be normally withdrawn, an oscillating gate member 25 is provided and pivotally mounted within the base. This gate member is formed with gates 26 and 27 which are represented by the fingers of the member 25. These. gates are in fixed parallel relation to each other and may be caused to alternately advance and recede through openings 28 and 29 formed in the platform 11 or" the base. The openings 28 and 29 are so disposed in relation to the bin as to permit one of the gate fingers to obstruct the bin opening- 23 and the other gate finger to .obstruct engaged by lock-springs 39 and 40.

the bin opening 2A, the obstructing movement, however, being alternate. In the drawings, it will be recognized that the gate 2's is obstructing the movement ofthe article B while the gate 26 has receded and would allow an article A to be withdrawn if it were so presented through the opening The arrangementof the articles within the bin, however, prevents this withdrawal except in the manner to be further specified.

' The gate member :25 is upon a squared shaft. 30 which is rotatably supported at its rear end by a hanger 31 and extends through a suitable opening at its forward end where it is fitted with a knob or turning member 32. By rotation of the turning member, the gate-piece 25 may be actuated. It is desirable to prevent unlimited rotation of the gate-piece and it is therefore provided with a locking quadrant 33. This quadrant is fixed to rotate in unison with the gate member and is formed with a pair of coin recesses 3a and 35. These recesses may alternately receive a coin delivered through the slot 36 in the plat form 11. The edge of the quadrant is formed in the usual manner with locking shoulders 37 and 38 which are alternately The depth of the recesses 3a and 35 are such that when a coin is present in the recess presented to the slot 36, rotation of the quadrant will cause the coin to lift the locking spring from against its shoulder and permit the gate member 25 to be moved so that one of the gates will move upwardly to an obstructing position and the other gate will move downwardly to permit the removal of one of-the articles vended.

In the operation of the present invention, the bin 12 is filled with articles in the manner previously-described and the lowermost article is obstructed by one of the gates. In the present instance, for example. the article B is lowermost and could normally be withdrawn through the opening 24. This is prevented, however, by the upstanding gate 27. In order to obtain the article B,

, a coin is dropped through the slot 36 and into the recess 35. The knob 32 is then rotated to move the quadrant in the direction of arrow a. The upwardly projecting edge of the coin will strike the free end of the lock-spring l0 and raise it from its obstructing position in relation to the shoulder 38. This will cause the gate member 25 to swing and will cause a simultaneous downwardmovement of the gate 27 and an upward movement of the gate 26, the length of these gates being so designed as to insure that when the gate 27 starts downwardly from its locking position, the gate 26 will start upwardly to an obstructing position or vice versa; The knob is turned until the lock spring 39 falls in rear of the shoulder opening 23 while obstructing the opening By repeating the operation, as previously described. the article A. may be withdrawn and by alternately operating the gate member, the contents of the entire bin may be withdrawn, one article at a time.

It will thus be seen that the vending machine here disclosed, while simple in its construction and composed of few parts, will operate efiiciently to prevent indiscriminate removal of the articles vended and to insure that they will be held until the proper mechanism has been actuated. It will be further evident that the parts or" the device may be readily made of glass, if desired, thus rendering the device cheap in construction and attractive in appearance.

While I have shown the'preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that various changes in the combination, construction and arrangement of par is may be made by those skilled in the art, without departin ii'om the spirit of the invention as claimeo. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. A vending machine comprising a bin in which articles to be vended may be stacked, and having outlet openings at the bottom thereof. means for admitting the lowermost of said articles to be withdrawn from the bottom of said stack, and a rocking gate member adapted to alternately obstruct said openings to permit one article to be withdrawn at a time, a quadrant turnable in unison with the gate member, and having coin pockets, and springs releasable by the insertion of a coin.

2. In a vending machine, a feed bin adapted to receive articles of rectangular shape. a pair of openings at the bottom of said bin for permitting the articles to be withdrawn therefrom, the inner walls of the bin being longitudinally grooved to receive and permit the articles to be alternately withdrawnirom said openings, a pair of gate members simultaneously movable for alternately obstructing the openings in the bin, and coin control means to lock or release the gate members.

3. In a vending machine, a vertical bin within which a plurality of articles may be stacked in criss-cross fashion, said bin having a pair of openings through its side Walls,

through which the lowermost of the articles may be withdrawn endwise, and lock means for normally obstructing the opening, from which it is possible to withdraw an article.

4:. In a vending machine, a vertical bin Within which a plurality of articles may be stacked in criss-cross fashion, said bin having a pair of openings through its side walls, through which the lowermost of the articles may be withdrawn 'endwise, lock means for alternately obstructing the opening, from which it is possible to withdraw an article, and a coin control means controlling said locking means.

5. A vending machine comprising a vertical bin having dispensing openings at the bottom of two of its adjacent side walls and through which articles to be dispensed may be alternately withdrawn, and an oscillating gate member formed with a pair of obstructing fingers adapted to be alternately disposed in an obstructing position before the openings whereby the articles may be alternately withdrawn from the openings.

6. A vending machine comprising a vertical bin having dispensing openings at the bottom of two of its adjacent side walls and through which articles to be dispensed may be alternately withdrawn, an oscillating gate member formed with a pair of obstructing fingers adapted to be alternately disposed in an obstructing position before the openings whereby the articles may be alternately'withdrawn from the openings and coin control means for said oscillating member.

7. A vending machine comprising a vertical bin having longitudinal grooves in each of its sides, the grooves of opposite walls receiving the ends of rectangular articles to be dispensed, which articles are arranged crisscross and alternately superimposed within the bin, an opening at the bottom of two adjacent walls through which the dispensed articles may be withdrawn, a base member upon which the bin is mounted and an oscillating lock member formed with two fingers adapted to alternately move to an obstructing position in front of the openings of the bin, thereby permitting the articles within the bin to be alternately withdrawn from the two openings in the bin as the oscillating member is moved from one position to another.

8. A vending machine comprising a vertical bin having longitudinal grooves in each of its sides, the grooves of opposite walls receiving the ends of rectangular articles to be dispensed, which articles are arranged criss-cross and alternately superimposed within the bin, an opening at the bottom of two adjacent walls through which the dispensed articles may be withdrawn, a base member upon which the bin is mounted, an oscillating lock member formed with two fingers adapted to alternatelymove to an obstructing position in front of the openings of the bin, thereby permitting the articles within the bin to be alternately withdrawn from the two openings in the bin as the oscillating member is moved from one position to another, and coin control means associated with said oscillating member to permit movement thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEQRGE W. MILLER. 

